Lost Girls
by Arisa Coulson-Rogers
Summary: Star and Skye are orphaned sisters fighting against all odds to stay together and stay alive. Star meets Coulson three times before he shows up outside her and Skye's van, is it fate? Warnings for violence and attempted rape of a minor. I suck at summaries. Coulson/OC. Avengers cameos. Changes to ch5 & ch6.
1. Away

*** ST. Agnes Orphanage, 11 years ago***

I stepped through the door five minutes before curfew when they locked the doors, breathing a sigh of relief. I didn't have the energy to shimmy up the drain pipe and climb through the window tonight. "You got lucky tonight, Leah." Sister Gertrude said as she approached the door key in hand to lock it early like the witch she was. _For the last time, it's Star! _"I hope you actually made money today." I was one of the only girls here allowed to work because I graduated high school three years early and they didn't want to deal with me all day. I worked from 9am to 6pm at a diner down the street.

"Yes, ma'am" I said curtly.

"Good, as soon as you're eighteen you and that brat sister of yours are out." She reminded me. _Her name is Skye, you old hag. _"Now, off to your room." I was already climbing the stairs.

"Yes, ma'am." I said again. I bounced up the stairs, ready to see my little sister and go to bed. I reached the third floor and wandered down the hallway to the small room I shared with my sister. The door was shut with the plastic plaque that read 'Leah Ann Poots Mary Sue Poots' reflecting the dim lights on the wall. _Huh, Skye never closes the door until I'm back._ I pushed open the door. "Skye, what's-ah!" One of the maintenance men had Skye pinned to her bed by her throat and pawing at her shirt as she struggled under him. I grabbed the lamp off the dresser by the door and smashed it on his head as he turned towards me. He rolled off Skye dazed for only a second before he dove on me, knocking me to the ground. He strattled my waist both hand wrapped around my neck cutting off my air supply. I tried to push him off but couldn't. Skye hit him with something, he let go with one hand and shoved her away before wrapping it back around my neck. My vision going black, I groped around for something anything to free myself.

My fingers brushed the end of something long and metal, pulled it closer until I felt the plastic handle. I grabbed it, pulled my arm up and stabbed it into his neck. Once, twice, three, four times. His hands loosened, I stabbed one more time and he collapsed on top of me.

I laid there dazed for a moment, gasping, and then it hit me. _Oh my god! He's dead! _I pushed and wiggled until I slipped out from under him. I stood up and looked down, Skye was curled up in a ball by the foot for her bed and there was blood everywhere it was all over the carpet and me. _We have to get out of here. _I started moving. I closed the door and pushed the dresser in front of it. "Skye, get what you need and put it in a bag." I said calmly, my voice was horse.

"Huh?" She asked, looking confused. She was in shock and couldn't process what I told her.

"Skye, snap out of it." I said, grabbing a towel and wiping the blood off my hands, arms, and face. "We have to leave. Now." I yanked the old comforter off my bed and moved over to the body. I spotted the keys on his belt and snatched them and dropped them on my bed before throwing the comforter over the body.

"Okay." Skye said, nodding her head. She got up and grabbed her backpack dumped her textbooks out. She moved to the dresser and yanked open the drawer and started shoving clothes into her backpack. "It's in your hair." I looked down at my brown curls where they draped over shoulder. The ends were tinged darker with blood.

"Crap." I said and scrambled into the tiny bathroom connected to our room. I flipped on the light and looked in the mirror hanging from the wall. There was blood all over me. I pulled off my waitress uniform and the band from my hair. I moved to the shower and jumped in turning it on. I washed the blood from my hair and body quickly, scrubbing until the water ran clear, it took less than two minutes. I jumped out, turning the water off, and wrapped myself in a towel. I yanked a brush threw my hair and pulled it back up into a ponytail.

I walked back out into the bedroom. Skye was pulling our file from under her mattress, she tucked it into her bag. I grabbed clean clothes from the dresser and yanked them on. I walked over and pulled a duffle bag from under my bed. I went back to the dresser and started loading my clothes into it. With that done, I zipped the bag and walked back over to my bed. I sat the bag down, grabbed my tennis shoes from under my bed and shoved my feet into them. Turning around to knell on the bed, I pulled the loose brick from the wall and retrieved my stash of money from the hollowed out cache. I unzipped my bag and shoved the cigar-box full of money inside and zipped it back up.

I stood, slung the duffle bag over my shoulder, and grabbed the keys off the bed. I turned to see Skye standing, backpack on her back, staring at the body under the comforter. "Skye, come on." I said reaching to tug on her arm. She came when I pulled her, but was still staring at the body. "Skye, we don't have time for this right now. We have to leave." She finally pulled her eyes from the body.

"Okay." She said and I let go of her arm.

"Okay." I said. I pushed open the window between our beds and stuck my upper body out. I turned and pulled myself to sit on the windowsill grabbed on to the drainpipe and pulled my body the rest of the way out the window until I was wrapped around the pipe. I climbed down a little and waited for Skye to hoist herself out. She swung out onto the pipe and we climbed down.

On the ground, I scanned the small parking lot and spotted a truck with the maintenance company logo on it. I walked over and tried the key, it worked. "Skye, get in." I said opening the door. She climbed in and over to the passenger's seat. I got in closing the door behind me. I went to start the truck when something caught in my hand. I looked. This whole time I've been holding what I stabbed him with, a screwdriver that fell from his belt. I sat it on the seat and started the truck.

I pulled out of the parking lot and drove away. "Where are we going?" Skye asked quietly.

"Away." I said and kept driving.


	2. Bad Dreams and First Meetings

Author's Note: PLEASE READ! I wanted to clear a few things up. At this point in the story Star is 17 and a half and Skye is almost 15. Star's powers are not the same as they are in my 'Agent Carter' story and neither she nor Skye are genetically related to Peggy in this story. Star is what I'm calling an Electropath, she can control any form of electricity including they electrical signals in one's body, and she is kind of psychic when it comes to Coulson and she finds it impossible to lie to him. Also, she remembers bits and pieces from before they were dropped at St. Agnes. This chapter is rather long and contains Star and Coulson's first meeting and a dream similar to Skye's is the episode "Ye Who Enter Here" (S2,Ep09). Sorry for the long A/N. ~ Arisa

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><p>I kept driving until morning, then pulled off the road behind a strip mall. I stopped and shut off the engine. "What's up?" Skye asked sleepily.<p>

"We need to ditch the truck." I said. I opened my door and got out, taking my bag with me. "Come on." I called back into the cab when Skye didn't move. She opened her door and hopped out. Without thinking I reached back into the truck and grabbed the screwdriver and shoved it into my bag. I closed the door and met Skye at the back of the truck.

"How are we going to get around without the truck?" She asked as we started walking away.

"We'll get another ride Skye." I said. We walked down the road a few miles until I saw a sign for a motel. "Come on, we could both use some sleep." I said pulling Skye towards the motel.

"What if we get caught?" Skye asked.

"You and I both know that they won't notice we're gone for a least a week." I said. _Or when his body starts to smell._ I kept that thought to myself as we reached to doors to the motel. "Okay, let me do the talking." I told Skye while opening my bag and pulling out a scarf and wrapping it around my neck to hide the bruises I felt forming there, before opening the door and walking in.

Across the small empty lobby, the man behind the counter looked up. "Hello, what can I do for you girls?" He asked.

"We need a room until tomorrow." I said calmly, walking up to the counter with Skye glued to my side. He turned and started typing something into the computer.

"Just the two of you?" He asked not looking away from the computer screen. Skye squeezed my arm but said nothing.

"Yes." I said, keeping my cool.

"Can I get a name to put in the system?" He asked. Skye squeezed my arm tighter. I pulled two twenties out of my pocket and slid them across the counter towards him to get his attention.

"Is that really necessary?" I asked, letting what Skye called my Persuasion come out. He turned to look at me and his eyes glazed over. Skye's grip on my arm loosened

"No, it's not necessary at all." He said sounding like he was high. I smiled and laid it on harder.

"And no one needs to know we were here." I said.

"No one needs to know you were here." He repeated.

"Good, now how much for the room?" I asked backing off almost completely.

"$70." He said, still sounding high. I pulled the rest of the money from my pocket.

"Here you go." I said putting the money on the counter. He took it and handed me a key card.

"Here's your key, miss." He said and I almost laughed. _This one's really susceptible._ "It's room 145, to the left."We walked away from the counter and into the hallway on the left. We were about half way down the hall before Skye spoke.

"Thank God for creepy mind control." She whispered.

*** Three hours later***

_I was running alone through the hallway of a brick building, calling out to someone. "Phil!" I yelled. The only answer was my voice echoing off the walls. I kept running terror gripping me. "Where did everybody go? Phil!" I called out again. "Skye!" Why was I alone? Where was I? Who was Phil? I was so confused._

_The hallway dead ended into a room with a big glass window looking into another room. There was familiar music that started playing. "That music, what is it?" I asked out loud. Suddenly I was in the second room in front of a table with a metal box on it. There was a man at the table, he was in a suit and had thinning brown hair. "Phil?" I called to him as I walked up to the table. "What are you doing? Don't we have a mission to prep for?"_

"_This is the mission." He said nodding towards the metal box on the table. "It opens. So weird right?" He reached for it and I was suddenly even more terrified than before. _

"_No!" I shouted pushing it away. When my hand touched it both the box and I fell to the ground. When the box hit the ground it opened revealing that it was the source of the music. I heard a baby crying and I looked up and the man was gone and in his place was another man with longer disheveled hair in a plaid shirt and a woman with long dark hair and a pearl necklace. The new man was holding a baby and the woman held the hand of a three year old girl. _

"_Sacrifices have to be made." The woman said looking at the man. "Poison tree, poison fruit." The man swayed back and forth with the baby and looked down at the little girl. _

"_I know." He said putting the baby down on the table. The woman lifted the little girl up a sat her beside the baby. "Bye, bye angel-eyes." He said to the baby. They turned and left, putting an arm around each other. _

"_No, wait. Don't leave them!" I called after them. I picked up the box and stood. I felt a pain in my hands and looked down. Strange markings had appeared on the box and my hands were turning to stone. Images flashed before me, blood and bodies. I panicked. "Phil! Phil, help me!" _

There was a loud pop. "Star!" Skye's voice brought me back to reality. She was sitting next to me on the bed. I sat up and pulled my knees to my chest, curling around them shaking. "You were having a nightmare." She said as I looked around the room and discovered the source of the loud pop that wake me. The light bulbs in both lamps, the alarm clock on the bedside table, and the T.V. screen all looked like they had exploded. Skye followed my gaze. "Yeah, that happened when you screamed." She said and I nodded, it wasn't the first time I'd broken electronics by being upset. Skye called me an Electropath. She turned back to me. "Who's Phil?" She asked, cocking her head to the side like a puppy.

"I don't know." I answered truthfully. "Sorry I woke you."

"It's okay, I'm always waking you up." She said and wrapped her arm around my shoulder. "You want to talk about it?"

"It didn't even make sense, so there's really no point." I said. It wasn't the first time I had this dream and it probably wouldn't be the last. I turned to look at her. "You should go back to sleep."

"And 'big-sister-mode' is back." She teased, then said seriously. "I'm fine. Actually, I'm kind of hungry." I smiled.

"You're always hungry." I teased her back and she stuck her tongue out at me. I stood up. "There was a vending machine in the lobby, I'll go get you something."

"Yay! Junk food!" She cheered and I rolled my eyes. I almost never let her eat the stuff.

"Dork." I teased pulling a pullover sweatshirt on over my pajama top and she stuck her tongue out at me again. I grabbed the key card and some money. "Stay in the room and don't open the door if anyone knocks." I told Skye seriously.

"I know." She said.

"Okay, I'll be back in a few minutes." I said and leaned over to kiss her head before heading to the door. I walked out and closed the door tightly behind me. I walked down to the lobby and over to the vending machine. There was a man standing in front of it, grumbling under his breath at it.

"Stupid piece of junk." He muttered, his voice sounded very familiar. "Give me the damn candy bar already."

"Here let me." I offered and stepped around the man. I concentrated for a second to force the coil to move and hit the center of the machine to cover it up. The candy bar popped free and fell down to the door, I reached down and retrieved it before turning around. "Here you go." I said holding it out and froze when I saw the man's face. Standing in front of me was a younger version of the man I just saw in my dream.

"Thanks." He said taking the candy bar from my hand. _It can't be the same man, you're losing it girl. _

"No problem." I said, sounding calmer than I felt. He stared at me for a moment, more precisely my neck. _The bruises! Crap, I forgot!_

"Are you alright, miss?" He asked, sounding very concerned. He pulled what looked like a wallet out of his pocket and opened it revealing a badge. _Oh God, I'm so screwed!_ "If you're not I can help you."

"No, I'm fine." I pressed out using my Persuasion.

"Are you sure?" He asked, seeming unaffected.

"Yes, I'm sure." I said cranking it up a notch, but nothing happened his eyes remained clear. _How is he not affected? The only person that isn't affected by my Persuasion is Skye._ "Really, I'm fine."

"Is whoever did that to you here?" He asked.

"No, it's just me and my sister." I said. _Why did I just say that? Crap!_

"Are you sure the two of you are safe?" He asked, not letting up.

"Yes, he's not a problem anymore." I said. _For the love of God, Star! Stop talking!_ He eyed me for a moment.

"Alright, but if you need anything…." He said and pulled out a business card and held it out to me. I hesitated a moment before taking it. He turned and walked away. I stared after him until he disappeared, then shook myself out of it stuffing the card into the pocket of my sweatshirt. I turned and put money in the machine and got a few bags of chips for Skye. I pulled them out if the machine and walked back to the room, still dazed from my encounter.

I slid the card and walked into the room, closing the door behind me. I walk over to the bed and drop the bags of chips next to Skye before sitting on the edge. "You okay?" She asked grabbing one of the bags and ripping it open.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I lied reflexively. Skye nodded and munched happily on her chips. I slide my hands into the pock of my sweatshirt and found the card. I pulled it out and looked at it and almost passed out. It read: Phillip J. Coulson Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.


	3. UFMO's and You Again

We packed up and left the motel the next morning. We walked down the road for several miles until we reached a bus stop. We waited only a few minutes for the bus to pull up. We got on and I paid. "Where's your last stop?" I asked the driver as he pulled back onto the road.

"Kensington Ave. Where do you girls need to go?" He asked. Skye and I looked at each other.

"Edgewater." I said the first city that came to mind, not caring where we went as long as was got out of Lakewood and as far away as possible.

"When you get off at Kensington you'll want to get on the 6, that driver will tell you how to get the rest of the way there." He said.

"Thanks." I said. Skye and I moved to the back of the bus and sat down.

"So what's in Edgewater?" Skye asked.

"I'm more interested in what's not in Edgewater." I said. We settled in for the ride. My mind drifted back to the man from the motel lobby.

***Five Years Later, Malibu, California***

"Did you see that?!" Skye shouted as she stuck her head and the upper half of her body out the window of the blue panel van we bought in Edgewater five years ago. She was watching a flying metal suit as if flew away and I drove in the opposite direction.

"Yes, Skye, I saw it." I said and grabbed her by the belt and pulled her back out of the window. "Are you trying to die? Put your seatbelt on."

"Okay, okay." She said and put her seatbelt on. She crossed her arms. "You're no fun, you know that?"

"Well, one of us has to be responsible and keep us alive." I said.

"Yeah, okay. But can you turn around? I want to get a shot of that." She said already pulling out her camera phone.

"No, we have no idea what that thing is, Skye. There's no way in hell I'm turning around." I said shaking my head.

"That's why it's so cool!" Skye squealed.

"No." I said.

"Please." She mad the puppy-dog-eyes at me, which worked only when I hadn't deemed something dangerous.

"No."

"Please."

"No."

"But…"

"No, Skye." I said firmly.

"You're so mean." She pouted.

"That thing could be dangerous. I'm not being mean, I'm trying to keep you safe." I said.

"Fine," She said. "but you're buying me junk food for this." Whenever she was mad at me junk food was the key to forgiveness.

"Fine." I said rolling my eyes. I drove for a while putting more distance between us and that thing. We made it about seven miles before we needed gas. I pulled into a gas station and up to a pump. I turned and looked at Skye. "Can I leave you in the car and not have you run off after that thing?"

"I have to pee anyway, so I might as well come in." She said. We got out of the car and walked inside. Skye wondered off towards the restroom and I headed to find snacks.

I grabbed a bag of Skittles, a bag of M&M's, and a bag of gummy bears for Skye then moved on to find something for myself. I bumped into someone behind me. "I'm so sorry." I said, turning around.

"I'm sorry." He said at the same time, turning as well. It was the man from the motel, the man that looked like the man from my reoccurring nightmare, the man I've dreamt about every night for the last five years. It was Agent Coulson.

"Oh, Agent Coulson." I said, more than a little shocked.

"You're the girl from the motel in-" He started.

"Colorado." I finished. "It's Star, by the way." I held my right hand out and he took it in his and we shook. My hand tingled in his and I pulled back quickly.

"So, uh, you look good. Better than the last time I saw you." He said, then made a face. "Not that you looked bad the last time, it's just with the bruises. And God, I really need to stop talking." I giggled, a full on girly innocent giggle, I hadn't done that in years. He smiled at me. "What a beautiful sound." He said softly. I blushed, my pale skin turning an embarrassing shade of red.

"Thanks." I said softly, looking down at the floor. He's phone rang loudly before he could reply.

"Coulson." He answered. I looked up. "What?! Already? Wow, he works fast." There was a pause. "Yeah, I'll be there in five." He snapped the phone shut. "I'm sorry, I really have to go." He said looking down at me.

"Yeah, I heard. Go." I said. He looked reluctant to leave. "Seriously, it's probably about that flying metal thing. It could be dangerous." His eyes widened.

"It's already flying?!" He asked.

"Yep, North by the highway. Really, go." I said.

"Thanks, I'll see you around." He said as he turned and ran off. I stood again watching him leave.

"Hey." Skye's voice from behind me mad me jump. I turned around. "Cool, gummy bears." She said looking at the junk food in my hands then up at me. "You okay, you look dazed?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Let's get going." I said.


	4. Stark Expo

***Two Years Later, New York City***

"Why are you dragging me to this stupid expo?" I whined as Skye literally drug me through Flushing Meadows Park.

"Stupid? How is anything about the Stark Expo stupid?" She asked, weaving in and out of the crowd. "I mean come on it's the world's smartest people in one place."

"You just want to drool over Stark." I snarked at her. I could see her ears turn red.

"I do not!" She shouted indignantly, drawing the attention of few people around us. I laughed.

"Sure you don't." I said. "Why else would you have insisted on being here on opening night?"

"Cause it's the best night." She muttered

"Because Stark's going to be here." I said, grinning mischievously. She huffed a sigh.

"Fine, yes I want to see Iron Man in the flesh." She said grudgingly. "Are you happy?"

"No, we're still here." I said with a shrug. She looked over her shoulder and rolled her eyes at me. We kept weaving through the crowd. We got close to the stage just in time to see Iron Man land.

***A Few Days Later, Still in New York****

I rolled my eyes as Justin Hammer danced on to the stage. _He's such a loser._ I thought. _At least Stark has style and oh yeah his tech actually works. _The only reason I stayed was to watch him make an ass out of himself. "Well, this should be entertaining." Skye said. She thought Hammer was an idiot too.

"Hopefully he doesn't blow up the stage." I said laughing. Something big moved on the stage and my eyes snapped toward it. There were several suits that looked kind of like the Iron Man suit on the stage. "What the…..?" Something wasn't right here. The Iron Man suit was Stark tech, what was Hammer doing with it?

The suits were receiving some sort of signal and before I could interpret it the suits weapons systems powered on. "Oh shit." I gasped. The suits started moving and firing into the crowd. People started screaming and running. I shot to my feet, grabbed Skye's hand, and started running. I turned slightly and concentrated on one of the lights above the stage and made it explode causing it to fall on two of the suits before turning back around.

We got out of the arena and kept running. Another suit landed in front of us and we skidded to a stop. "Shit!" I yelped. Going around it wasn't going to happen neither was going back. I held my right hand up and closed my eyes, I felt it explode. I opened my eyes and we started running again. Luckily, in all the chaos no one noticed what I just did.

Author's Note: I'm going to try to catch up to current show events before it returns. OMFG Skye is Daisy "Quake" Johnson!


	5. Third Meeting, Weird Energy, and Waiting

***Two Years Later, Still in New York City***

We stood outside the newly built Stark Tower waiting for them to light it. They were putting in the new power source, an arc reactor. Skye bounced excitedly next to me, I just rolled my eyes. I hated doing this stuff.

When the lights came on everyone cheered. A few seconds later, Stark flew over causing everyone to scream again and wave. Some of the women did more than wave and I diverted my eyes. _That is so disgusting and tacky. Honestly, he dating Pepper Potts._ I wondered away from the crowd, leaving Skye to her fangirling. I spotted a black car pulling up to the sidewalk. I was startled at who got out, Agent Coulson. He looked up and we locked eyes. He smiled and walked over.

"Hi." He said when he reached me.

"Hi." I replied lamely.

"I'd love to talk but there's an urgent matter I have to discuss with Mr. Stark." He said. "I hate that we keep meeting when I have to run off." He sounded kind of sad. _Maybe he feels this attraction too._

"It's alright, I understand." I said. _What would he want with a freak who lives out of a van with her fangirl sister anyway? _

"How about this? You meet me at the dinner on 5th and Broadway, on Friday at noon and will talk then." He said and I just nodded dumbly. "Great, here's my new card." He smiled and handed me his card. I took it and smiled shyly back. "I'll see you on Friday."

"Friday." I echoed and he turned and walked away. I stood for the third time watching him leave.

"Hey, there you are!" Skye yelled from a few feet behind me, snapping me out of my trance again. I turned around as she walked up. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm good." I said, not having to fake the happiness in my voice. "Are you ready to go?"

***Two Days Later, Still in New York***

Skye and I were walking down the street. I'd been feeling strange for the last hour, I had a weird pain that started in the left side of my back and went all the way through to my chest and I felt dizzy. I looked up when I felt a strange energy coming from Stark Tower. I froze in place, whatever it was I didn't like it. "Star, what's wrong?" Skye asked from two steps ahead of me.

"We need to leave." I said grabbing her arm and pulling her back toward where we parked the van.

"What? Why?" She asked, but didn't fight me as I pulled her down the street.

"There's something strange coming from Stark Tower." I said.

"They could have invented something new." She countered. I shook my head.

"It doesn't feel like Stark tech." I said and that seemed to be the end of the conversation. We reached the alley we parked the van in. "Get in." I told Skye. As she got in the van I pulled out my cell phone and Agent Coulson's card. I punched in his number and dialed. It rang a few times and went to voice mail. "Hi, it's Star. Something weird is going on at Stark Tower, you might want to send someone to check it out. I'll talk to you later." I left the message and hung up.

I got in the van and started it up. "Who was that you called?" Skye asked as I pulled the van out of the alley and on to the street.

"A friend." I said. I kept driving until we were out of the city.

***That Friday, Noon, at the Dinner on 5th and Broadway***

It was one of the few buildings that didn't take much damage. It was open when I arrived and I sat and waited. I was worried at Agent Coulson hadn't called me back. I waited and checked my phone, it was 12:20. I ordered a coffee and waited. The coffee arrived and I waited. I sipped the coffee and checked my phone, 12:40. I waited and drank my coffee. I got a refill and waited. I sipped the coffee and checked my phone again, 1:15. I waited. Captain America and the Black Widow came in to pick up food and everyone cheered, he smiled shyly and she just stared. They took their food and left. I waited and sipped my coffee. I checked my phone, 1:30. I waited and got another refill. The waitress stared giving me sad looks and I waited. I sipped my coffee and checked my phone 1:50. I waited. At 2:00 I got up, paid, and left.

Author's Note: Poor Star, she thinks she got stood up. But we all know that's not what happened. Anyway, the next chapter is the Pilot episode with Star added. I won't do all the episodes just my favorites and the ones that Star really has to be in, like the one where Skye got shot.


	6. Pilot Episode

Author' s Note: This chapter is really, really long due to trying to keep to what actually happened in the show.

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><p>***One Year Later, In Los Angeles California***<p>

Skye and I were walking down the street, by a lab she was surveiling for her Rising Tide stuff. I wasn't a part of the Rising Tide, but I did help from time to time. Today, that meant people watching. There was nothing unusual on the street. People milling around shopping, a guy buying his kid a hot dog, all perfectly normal. Until, the building exploded.

There was smoke and fire billowing out of the broken windows, filling the air. People on the street started screaming and running around. It looked like the explosion came from the floor the lab was on. Skye and I looked at each other, she had her phone out already recording everything. A crash brought our attention back to the building. A man in a hood jumped out the window, carrying a woman, and landed on his feet on the ground. Skye and I both took a step forward looking at the scene before us. He didn't look shaken, let alone hurt. He laid the woman down, made eye contact with Skye and ran off. Skye stared after him and I ran over to check on the woman. She was still breathing, I pulled my phone out and dialed 911. Skye crouched next to us.

"911, what's your emergency?" A female voice answered.

"A building just exploded." I said and looked up at Skye, exchanging shocked expressions.

***The Next Day, At a Bus Stop in L.A.***

We were sitting on the bench at the bus stop by where we normally park the van, still freaking out over what happened yesterday. Well, I was, Skye was playing on her phone. She was concentrating harder than normal. I turned to look at her. "What's up?" I asked.

"The explosion video went viral." She said, sounding frustrated.

"And this is a problem because?" I asked, confused.

"Because someone's trying to back trace the upload." She said, still not looking up from her phone.

"They'll never be able to, Skye, your encryption is the best." I said, stating the facts.

"I know, but they're trying really hard. Like really, really hard." She said. "Why do they want to know who uploaded it so bad?" She made a few faces at her phone. I saw the man from yesterday walking down the sidewalk towards us.

"Skye." I tried to get her attention. She was still staring at her phone. "Skye." This time I grabbed her arm and shook it too.

"What?" She asked, finally looking up from her phone.

"Look." I said, nodding towards the man. He hadn't seemed to notice us yet. Skye turned.

"Oh my god." She said. "That's him." We watched him as he in to the dinner. "Come on." She stood up and grabbed my hand pulling me up off the bench and into the dinner. She drug me straight into the booth the guy was sitting at. He looked up from his paper and stared at us. "Just act natural." Skye said. She started scanning the dinner, a little to obviously.

"What?" He asked, clearly as confused as I was.

"Just pretend that were talking." She said, still scanning.

"We are." He said still sounding confused.

"Good, you just never know whose listening." She said. I rolled my eyes._ Great way to convince him were nuts, Skye. _

"I don't even know whose talking." He said gesturing at us.

"I'm Star." I said.

"I'm Skye and you're the hooded hero." She said and kind of giggled. "Please tell me you're not staying with that name." She leaned back in the boot and reached over and snagged a few Splenda packets from the holder.

"What? I'm not, I'm a factory worker." He insisted. Clearly, he didn't want anyone to know about this.

"Sure, by day." She said.

"Skye." I interrupted.

"I saw you." She continued.

"Skye." I interrupted again.

"You're a hero, like a for real superhero." She said. He looked away.

"Skye." I tried.

"Which is- I'm not like a groupie stocker type, but oh my god that is so cool." She geeked out like the groupie she really was.

"And that totally convince him you aren't." I said rolling my eyes. She elbowed me. She pushed her hair back.

"Okay, okay, chill. Just-just don't draw attention." She said. He gave me a 'really' look.

"The only one drawing attention is you." I said. She elbowed me again.

"You're in danger." She said.

"You've got the wrong guy lady." He said.

"Okay we'll just-" I started to say and get up.

"No, you've got the wrong approach." She said.

"Skye, the man wants to be left alone now." I said pulling on her arm.

"The cute girl from the hospital is dying to thank you, and possibly **thank you**. Ahum." She said. My eyes about popped out of my head.

"Skye!" I growled. She continued to ignore me.

"And you're hiding." She said. "That clip of you saving her has had the most hits since that puppy with vertigo and you can't even find a job."

"Skye!" I growled again. This is just too far. The poor guy looked down and folded up the paper and shoved it into his coat pocket.

"What do you mean about danger?" He asked. Skye looked out the window.

"SHIELD." She said. I sighed.

"And here we go." I muttered.

"Shield what? You think I should carry a shield?" He asked, holding his arm up in a bad imitation of Captain America. I rolled my eyes.

"SHIELD, government, guys in dark scary suits who come after guys like you." She said. "They knew about the Battle of New York before it even happened and cleaned it up before anyone could ask any real questions. Over night. How long do you think it will take for them to clean you up?"

"And you want to know why I'm hiding?" He asked.

"You walked into that one." I said.

"What if you didn't hide? What if you got in front of this and let people know that you're a hero?" She asked.

"I'm not, I'm just a guy." He said.

"Well, a guy like that gets work, gets perks. And I can help, I'm like great with computers. Like weirdly great, I could help you create a whole new identity or… a mask." She babbled.

"Okay." He got up and walked away.

"Or you could just stick with the hood." She said and shoved me out of the booth and followed him to the counter, pulling me along. "Listen, you cannot just walk away from this. With great power comes a ton of weird crap you're not ready for." He walked away from the counter. "Now my office-"

"You have an office?" He turned and asked.

"Yes, I have an office. It's a mobile office." She said.

"It's our van." I said.

"We live in a van by choice but it's always parked in the alley around back, free wifi and you can come by any time." She said.

"Thank you." He said and turned back around and walked away.

"They're coming for you." She called after him waving. He looked back.

"I'm sorry she's insane." I called and he kept walking. Skye looked down at her hands.

"Mike." She said and I looked down. She had his driver's license. I grabbed her by the arm and drug her out of the dinner.

"Are you crazy?" I asked as I pulled her into the alley.

"I just wanted to talk to him." She said.

"You could have gotten our heads smashed in. You still could if he finds out you have his I.D. And why did you tell him where we live? Have I taught you nothing?" I asked. I was so livid.

"You could so take him, Star, its fine." She said as we got to the van.

"It better be." I said.

*** The Next Day, in the Van***

Skye was recording the audio for one of her posts on the Rising Tide's website. I sat in the front reading.

"Nothing can stop us in the-" The back door opened. "Hey what up?" Skye said. I spun in time to see a black bag being put over her head. I dove out the passenger side door. I stood in front of two men in suits, one turned. It was Agent Coulson, he look surprised.

"You son of a bitch." I snapped and lunged for him. The other man caught me and threw me backwards. He came after me and I kicked him. He punched, I blocked. I jumped back when he tried to sweep my legs out from underneath me. I punched, he blocked. He punched and connected with my cheek. I stumbled backward, he grabbed me and slammed me into the wall. My head snapped back into the bricks and the world went black.

I came to in the back of the van with a bag over my head and my hands cuffed behind my back. The door opened. "All I'm asking is if it was really necessary to knock her out?" That was Coulson's voice.

"Sir, she's a hostile." The other man said. I felt Skye being pulled from the van.

"She's a girl, Ward." Coulson said.

"A girl that wants to kick your ass." I said.

"See." The other man, Ward, said.

"Oh good, you're awake. I was starting to worry." Coulson said.

"Why? It's not like you care." I said.

"What gave you that idea?" Coulson said and I felt his hand on my arm.

"Don't touch me." I said and kicked out blindly. He pulled away.

"Do you two know each other?" Ward asked.

"Yes." Coulson said.

"No." I said at the same time.

"Apparently not well enough." Skye's muffled voice called. "She's pissed as hell right now, I'd back off if I were you."

"Shut up." Ward said. "Sir, maybe you should take this one and I'll get the feisty one."

"No, I'll-" He touched my arm again.

"I said don't touch me." I said and kicked out again.

"Okay, yeah." Coulson said. There was some shuffling and a pair of rough hands grasped both my upper arms. I was yanked out of the van and set on my feet. They started pulling me somewhere and I fought the whole way.

"Really?" Ward asked from my side. I was shoved into a chair and the bag was pulled off. We were in a metal room with a metal table in front of us.

"You guys are making a big mistake." Skye said. For some reason she wasn't cuffed.

"You don't look that big." Ward said.

"Sorry for the lack of finesse, Agent Ward here has had a little history with your group the Rising Tide." Coulson said. I glared at him.

"I don't know what you're-" Skye started.

"Okay, there are two ways we can do this." Ward said.

"Oh, is one of them the easy way?" Skye asked sassily.

"No." Ward deadpanned.

"Good." I deadpanned back.

"Oh." Skye said after a second.

"What's your name?" Coulson asked Skye sweetly.

"Skye." She said.

"What's your real name?" Ward asked.

"That can wait, it's another name we need as certain hero." Coulson said.

"What about you?" Ward asked nodding to me.

"Her name's Star." Coulson said.

"How?" Skye asked.

"Never mind." I said.

"Okay, what makes you think I know that?" She asked Coulson.

"Well, you made a little mistake." He said and sat down in the chair opposite us. "The phone you filmed the Hooded Hero with had the same cryptographic signature as a few of the Rising Tide posts." He put a file down in front of her.

"Wow, yeah. Was that a mistake or am I now sitting in the middle of your secret headquarters? What is this?" She asked and looked around. "A plane? I got inside and by now you've figured out you can beat the encryption on my equipment. So, you've got nothing."

"We have a fairly strong coincidence. You being on the scene right before it went up in flames." Coulson said and held up a picture of the burning building. "Want to tell me what my team is gonna find there?" There was a long pause. "How did you know the hooded man was in the building?"

"Did you blow it up to draw him out?" Ward piped up. Skye looked at him like he was nuts.

"Did you?" She asked.

"That's not style." Coulson said.

"We were just kidnapped by your style. SHIELD covered up New Mexico, Project Pegasus, of course you'd be covering up Centipede." She said waving her hand around. Ward tried to stealthily mouth Centipede to Coulson and failed. I threw my head back laughing.

"Holy no way. You don't know what that is." Skye said gleefully. "Billions of dollars of equipment at your disposal and I beat you with a laptop I won in a bet."

"This is too good." I said.

"You need to think about your friend, we aren't the only ones interested in people with powers." Coulson said and I stiffened. _People with powers? Is that why he pretended to be interested in me?_ "We'd like to contain him, yeah. The next guy will want to exploit him, and the next guy after that'll want to dissect him." I tried not to squirm as Ward put his hand on the table and lead into Skye's face.

"What is Centipede?" Ward asked.

"Back off." I snapped.

"Ward." Coulson said. Ward took a step back and moved to sit down some where behind us. Skye got up and moved.

"Centipede, it was chatter on the web and then it was gone. I traced the IP back address to that building." She said.

"What were you after?" Ward asked.

"The truth." She said turning to look at him. "What are you after?"

"World peace." He answered. He got up and moved toward her. "You pseudo- anarchist hacker types love to stir things up but you're never around for the fall out. People keep secrets for a reason, Skye." By the end he was in her face and I was out of my chair.

"Just because you're reasonable," Skye said poking him in the chest. "And firm." She poked him again, clearly he wasn't going to do anything so I sat back down. "Doesn't mean that you're not an evil, faceless, government, tool-bag."

"Just give us your guy's name." Ward said.

"He's not my guy." Skye said.

"You do understand he's in danger?" Coulson asked.

"Then let me go, let me talk to him. Me, not the T-1000 here." Skye said gesturing to Ward.

"You want to be alone with him, of course." Ward said and walked towards Coulson. "She's a groupie, all this hacking into SHIELD tracking powers she might as well be one of those sweaty Cosplay girls crowding around Stark Tower." Coulson stood up.

"What?! I would- this one time." Skye said. Coulson opened the door.

"Ward." He called and they walked out, closing the door behind them.

"He nailed you without even trying." I said.

"Oh, shut up. And how do you know that other guy anyway?" She asked.

"That's a long confusing story and I don't want to talk about it." I said in a 'that's final' tone.

"Uh, okay." She said and sat down. The door opened again and Coulson and Ward walked back in. Coulson was holding something. He held up a vial and Ward moved behind us.

"This is QNBT16. It's the top shelf martini of sodiumpentathal derivatives." Coulson said and Skye and I both pulled back, but Ward's hand on each of our shoulders kept us in place. "It's a brand new and highly potent truth drug."

"Coulson." I said, freaking out a bit.

"Don't worry the effects only last about an hour." Coulson said as Ward moved from behind us.

"And then you'll have a nice little nap." Ward said smiling. "And we'll have all the answers to- hey!" He yelped as Coulson injected him with the truth drug. "What the hell?"

"I'm sorry, did that hurt?" Coulson asked but he didn't sound sorry at all.

"No, but you've lost your mind. You should never do that to a member of your team. And yes, it did hurt a little bit but I always try to mask my pain in front of beautiful women because I think it makes me seem more masculine. My God, this stuff works fast." Ward babbled before sitting down.

"Don't trust us?" Coulson asked Skye. "Ask him whatever you'd like. Star, come with me please." I grudgingly got up and followed him to the door.

"Wait, what?" Ward called after us. "You can't just- this is definitely not protocol." Coulson closed the door. He turned and led me away from the door and down a hallway. I followed him into a room with a glass wall with a large computer/table in the center and on the opposite wall there was a large screen with a video feed from the metal room on it.

"So, uh, what just happened?" I asked as he started digging around in his suit pockets of something.

"Yeah, sorry about that." He said. "Where did I put that- there it is." He pulled out the hand cuff key. He moved behind me and unlock the cuff around my right wrist. I spun and backhanded him. I was surprised when I felt a sting in my own cheek. He caught my wrist again and cuffed it back in, in front of me this time. "And these were going to come off." He sighed.

"You stood me up and then a year later you kidnap me. What the hell did you expect?!" I snapped at him. He looked away.

"I didn't mean to stand you up." He said, sounding sad.

"Seriously? You didn't mean too? That's the lamest excuse ever." I said. He still held my wrist just above where they were cuffed.

"I know, I'm sorry." He said. His thumbs started moving back and forth over my skin, causing my brain to fuzz out a little. "I'll explain someday." I was rapid losing my will to stay mad at him.

"Okay." I said. We stood there for a while. "I called you too, you know."

"No, I didn't know." He said.

"Okay." I said again.

"Okay." He repeated. We fell into silence again for a few minutes. Something on the computer beeped. Coulson let go of me and went to check it. He made a face and when I walked over to see what was up he closed whatever it was. "Come on." He said and I followed him through the plane and over to what looked like a kitchen. He opened the fridge and pulled out a water bottle and handed it to me. "Here, drink this. I almost forgot about your head, I could take a look if you want."

"I'm okay." I said and took a sip of the water. He looked down at his watch.

"The stuff I gave Ward should be wearing off soon. We should go make sure your friend doesn't get lost trying to find us." He said.

"Skye's my sister actually." I said.

"Really?" He asked and I nodded. "You two look nothing alike." It was true, Skye had an exotic look about her and I was just pale. Her eyes are brown and mine are a weird lavender color. She was slender and I was a little chunky, Skye said I was curvy. The only similarities were our brown hair and our height.

"Yeah, we know." I said as we started back towards the metal room. As we made it to the hallway that led to the metal room Skye opened the door.

"Hey." She said as she closed the door behind her. "Still in handcuffs I see." She nodded down to where my hands were curled, still cuffed, around the water bottle. Coulson waved us back to the room with the computer and the glass wall.

"Yeah, I might have slapped him." I said as we walked into the room behind Coulson.

"Shit." She said.

"So did Agent Ward give you anything?" Coulson asked. Skye walked around him to the other side of the computer/table.

"He said that he's been to Paris but he's never really seen it. And that he wishes you had stayed in Tahiti." She said, leaning with her hands on the table. I felt something electrical in his brain spark at the word 'Tahiti'.

"It's a magical place." He said. That really didn't sound right. Skye made a face at the statement.

"Ward doesn't like your style, I kind of think I do." She said looking around at the plane.

"What about his?" He asked and sent a news feed up to the screen. It was about Mike, it showed him smashing around a factory.

"This was what you got earlier?" I asked and he nodded.

"This is wrong, this isn't the guy we met. He was- he just needs a break." Skye said. She looked at Coulson.

"Then give him one. What have you got?" He asked. Skye made a face then gave him Mike's I.D. He took it and pulled out his phone and called someone. "Where are you?" He paused. "Get in the briefing room, all of you, now." He hung up. "You're about to meet the rest of my team. They're a bit, uh, different. A pair of scientists and a very scary woman who's our pilot. It might be best to let me do the talking." We nodded as they walked in. The two scientists were obvious, a tiny woman with light brown hair and a tallish skinny man with curly reddish hair. The only one left was a small older Asian woman, she must be the pilot. Skye and I went into the corner of the room.

Coulson sat the I.D. on the surface of the computer/table and it scanned it. "Michael Peterson, factory worker, married, one kid. Gets injured, gets laid off, wife jumps ship, good guy, bad breaks." Coulson rattles off and Skye starts pacing around the room. "Best guess is someone tells him they can make him strong again, can make him super."

"Who has the tech to do that and why would they want to?" The pilot asked.

"Fitz, what do we have from the security footage from before the blast?" Coulson asked and the male scientist starts typing on the computer and brings some video up on the screen.

"What are we seeing?" The pilot asked.

"Well the man is angry at the other man." The male scientist, Fitz, said in a Scottish accent gesturing at the screen. We all give him blank stares.

"The data is very corrupt." The female scientist said, she sounded British.

"Yeah, like Cold War Russia corrupt." Fitz said.

"Yeah." The female scientist agreed.

"I can't sync the time code without-" Fitz started to say.

"What if you had the audio?" Skye asked from behind the pilot, who glares at her. Everyone else turns to look at her. "I was running surveillance on the lab, I had my shotgun mic pointed at the window right before the blast. The digital file's in our van, there's too much background noise for me but you could probably-"

"You could clean that up couldn't you?" The female scientist asked Fitz. They started whispering things to each other that made no sense to me. Then they turned to Skye and started talking at the same time.

"That would be great thank you very much." Was all I caught and I wasn't sure who said it. Skye looked at Coulson.

"Your van's here, but you were right we couldn't decrypt your files." He said.

"The encryption is coupled to the GPS, get my van back to that alley then I'm in business." She said and started to walk out.

"Agent May will escort you." He said and the pilot move to follow Skye. "And on your way out wake up Ward." He said to the pilot, May, she nodded and walked out. I moved to follow them. "No, I want you here." He said gently to me. I hesitated. "May will take care of your sister."

"Okay." I said. He turned back to Fitz and his partner.

"We'll go wait in the lab." They said in unison and skittered off.

"Are they always like that?" I asked. "The whole babbling at the same time thing?"

"So, I've been told." He said.

"They seem young." I said, looking in the direction they ran off in.

"They are." He said. _And this is going nowhere fast._

"Okay, can we just talk about what's really going on instead of beating around the bush?" I asked. He sighed.

"Every time I let you out of my sight I lose you, for least a year. I just- we should check on FitzSimmons." He said and walked out. I sighed and followed him. We walked down a staircase and into a room with glass doors. Fitz ran past us carrying something. "Don't fall." Coulson called after him. We walked over to a counter where the female scientist using a saws-all on something metal. "Simmons, tell me what you have." Coulson said.

"Well…." The female scientist, Simmons, started and that was the last thing out of her mouth that I understood besides 'explosion'. Something behind me pinned and I turned to see Fitz running back in to mess with a computer.

"And when you get back I'll show you my thing, a thing- it's not- my hardware- it's my equipment, oh hang up." He babbled then yanked his head set off. I just shook my head at him. _Poor awkward geek._ I turned back to Coulson and Simmons.

"So the alien metal wasn't the explosive?" He asked.

"Well, I assumed from the break pattern and dispersion it was but it's just dripping in Gamma radiation. Ah." Yellow-green goo started coming out of the piece of metal and she shoved a petri dish under it. "Now it's actually dripping, fun." She said. And Ward came storming in.

"So what did that get us?" Ward asked, clearly unhappy. Fitz came running to get something.

"Skye's sending the rest of her decrypted files on Centipede. But we have the audio, I've loaded it up." Fitz said and ran back out.

"Nice work." Coulson told Ward. Ward turned and glared at him. Fitz started babbling again.

"… And our mystery man appears." Fitz said and some sort of hologram appeared just outside the lab. Coulson and Ward walked out towards it and I followed at a distance. "It's like magic, but it science." Fitz said flailing his hand around.

"Explosives in the case?" Ward asked. The audio from the lab started playing.

"Please calm down just let me check your vitals."

"I feel fine, I want to feel more. Where's the doctor? Where is she?!"

"If-if you don't settle down I'll-I'll have you sedated." And there was a crash.

"Did you see that on his arm?" Fitz asked and ran the hologram back. "What's that look like to you?" Ward walked closer to the hologram.

"A centipede." Ward answered.

"It's an intravenous filter for his blood." Simmons said over. "This goo, sir, is very similar to the serum Dr. Erskine developed in the 40's for the-"

"Super-soldiers" Coulson finished for her.

"Like Captain America, only crazy." I said.

"I'm reading alien metal, Gamma radiation, the serum, every known source of super power thrown in a blender." Simmons said. Coulson turned to Fitz.

"We need to see the origin of the blast, run it back from the last point recorded." Coulson said. Fitz ran it back in slow motion. It showed the man exploding. Coulson walked up to get a closer look.

"Oh my god." I whispered.

"Extremis, it's new. Completely unstable." Coulson said and turned to look at us.

"Poor man didn't bring an explosive and Mike has the same stuff in his system." Simmons said.

"And judging by his strength level, a lot more." Ward said.

"So, any minute now Mike is gonna…" Fitz said and moved his arms mimicking an explosion.

"He'll take out anyone within a two block radius." Simmons said.

"Oh my god." I said again. Coulson started walking over.

"Well, you wanted a bomb." He said looking at Ward. He came over to me, took hold of my arm and led me upstairs.

"Are you okay?" He asked quietly.

"I'll be better when we save Mike." I said.

"I know." He said and squeezed my arm lightly. "They'll find a way." We were back at the glass walled briefing room. Ward walked in carrying a large case. He sat it on the table and opened it. I recognized the metal pieces inside.

"A rifle? I thought we were saving Mike not killing him." I said, looking at Coulson.

"It's a last resort." Ward said. "Don't get emotional." He started assembling the rifle

"Emotional? You haven't seen emotional yet, pal." I snapped.

"Okay, calm down." Coulson said. "It's a last resort and we need one, but for the record I don't like it either."

"Noted." Ward said. He was almost finished assembling the rifle.

"Okay." I said. I played with the water bottle in my hands while Coulson did something with the computer and Ward played with his gun. Ward started disassembling it again.

"Sir!" Simmons voice called. Coulson walked out to meet her and Fitz. "He didn't explode because he was angry, the two are connected, it's kind of a chemical surge. Calming him down will buy him a minute at most. He will detonate within the next few hours."

"Solution?" Coulson asked.

"Isolate him, get him away from people." Simmons said.

"Or?" Coulson asked.

"Put a bullet through his brain." Fitz said.

"Oh god." I said quietly.

"If he's dead his eradiate metabolic process will stop." Simmons said. Coulson looked back at Ward and I, then turned back to Simmons.

"We need to come up with a third option, one that doesn't involve Mike's son losing a father." He said and turned to walk back into the briefing room.

"We have a couple hours at most, there's no way we could possibly-" Simmons started and Coulson cut her off and spun and walked back towards them.

"Don't ever tell me there's no way! It's on you!" He yelled and I jumped. "Get it done." He walked back into the briefing room. The phone rang and Coulson pressed a button. "May?"

"He took Skye." Her voice came over the speaker.

"What?" I asked and got ignored. Coulson made a face.

"You alright?" Coulson asked May.

"We'll deal with that later at length. Right now, we need to figure out where they went." She said, gasping a bit in pain.

"We're on it." Coulson said and hung up. The computers on the plane got a signal, Skye's SOS signal.

"Skye." I said as the computers fritzes out. I closed my eyes and concentrated. A spark of electricity shot out of the computer and hit the middle of the cuffs melting the metal. I pulled my wrists apart with a satisfying snap. I opened my eyes, Coulson and Ward were staring at me. "That was emotional. That's not just any hack Skye's telling us where she is. Let's go." I turned and headed down the stairs. I heard Ward scramble to follow me. Coulson went a different way.

We descended the stairs and Ward went and lowered the cargo door. "What is this nonsense? Why are you making nonsense?" I heard Simmons ask Fitz.

"It's not me. This is noise, someone's hacking our secure channel." Fitz said. Ward walked over to the black SUV and opened the back door and put the rifle case in. I climbed in the other side. Ward got in the driver's seat and started the car.

"It's longitude and latitude. Mike took Skye. She's telling us where." Coulson said walking out. He got in the front passengers seat. Ward pulled the SUV out. "So, when were you gonna tell us you're Gifted?" Coulson asked me.

"Gifted? Is that what you call it?" I asked. "The nuns that raised us called it possessed and Skye calls it Electropathy."

"What do you call it?" He asked.

"A curse. Can we just focus on rescuing my sister?" I asked

"Yeah, okay." Coulson said, understanding that the conversation was over.

"Turn left here." I told Ward. "They're at the main entrance of Union Station."

"Yeah, I know how to get there." Ward said.

"Then step on it." I said and he sped up.

"I already called local law enforcement for back up." Coulson said. "I know this is stressful but you have to follow my lead when we get there." He said to me.

"I know." I said.

"And no-" He started and I cut him off.

"No powers, I know." I said.

"Not unless it absolutely necessary." He said. We pulled up outside Union Station. "Stay close to me." He said before we got out. He grabbed a megaphone.

We walked toward the van. Ward looked around. "Look at this place, you're gonna risk thousands of lives over some nobody." Ward said to Coulson.

"That's my sister you're talking about." I snapped.

"Nobody's nobody, Ward. FitzSimmons will come through." Coulson said. Then pulled up the megaphone. "Mr. Peterson, good morning. We're not a threat, we're her to help, but you're in danger and we need to take you in." He said.

"Uh, yeah that's not gonna work." I said as everyone else reached for their guns. Then the door flew off the van at us. Coulson fell back and I dove to the side with Ward, who reached to pull me out of the way. I landed on my face partially under Ward and his gun landed a few inches from his hand. I felt the pavement dig into my skin. There were people screaming behind us. Ward moved and I rolled onto my back in time to see Mike pulling Skye and a little boy out of the van and drag them inside. Ward grabbed his gun and we got up and followed them.

We wove through people trying to catch up to them. "You're right he is a little bitch!" I heard Skye yell loudly.

"This way." I said, pulling Ward toward the sound of Skye's voice. Then the screams started.

"Great she started a fight." Ward muttered. We pushed through the cowering crowd until we were right behind Mike as he threw someone across the room. I didn't see Skye anywhere.

"Ace?! Ace?!" Mike called out. Ward walked up behind him, took him out at the knees, and put him in a headlock. I walked around in front of him.

"Look, the stuff inside of you is unstable, it'll kill you and everyone in here." Ward said, trying to reason with him.

"Please Mike, you need to-" I started.

"Whose gonna miss us?!" Mike yelled and stood up and slammed back into a glass kiosk. I stepped forward at the same time he did. He flipped Ward up over his head then threw him down on top of me. I landed on my back, Ward sprawled on top of me, and my head snapped back and hit the floor. My vision went black for a minute. I heard a shotgun blast and then the fire alarm.

"Ow." Ward groaned over me. I blinked a few times and my vision came back.

"Yeah, now move." I groaned.

"We're at the south entrance May." I heard Coulson say. Then Ward was moving, he was being pulled up by Coulson.

"I thought you told them to hold fire." Ward said, as he righted himself and Coulson reached for me.

"I don't think that's us. We may have a third party here." Coulson said as he helped me up. "He's gonna head to the tracks. You stay high, we'll go low. Only take the shot if you have to Ward." Ward walked away. "Ward!"

"Only if I have to." Ward turned and repeated. We watched him walk away then Coulson turned and looked at me.

"You okay?" Coulson asked me.

"I'm fine." I said.

"Good, let's go." He said and pulled me toward the tracks by the hand. "If things start looking bad, I want you to use your powers."

"In front of all these people?" I asked. I didn't like the idea of exposing myself any more than I already had.

"Don't worry I'll protect you." He said and I blushed a bit. There were two shotgun blasts up ahead of us. I looked up to see Mike falling from the upper level.

"Oh my god." I said as he crashed through a kiosk.

"Stay behind me." Coulson said and pulled his gun out. We walked up slowly. Mike climbed out of the broken kiosk and stopped to stare at us. We stopped a few feet away, he and Coulson stared at each other for a second then Coulson crouched and put down his gun. He stood back up.

"You think that means anything? I know you have men everywhere waiting to put me down. I know how this plays out." Mike said.

"I don't." Coulson said. "I know you've got poison in your system." Mike sifted back and forth restlessly. "I know it's burning you up. Mike, the last guy that wore that exploded." Coulson said gesturing to the thing on his arm.

"I'm not like that other guy. I'm- it matters who I am, inside. If I'm a good person. If I'm strong." Mike insisted. Coulson's earpiece crackled to life but I couldn't make out what was said.

"I know you're strong, your boy knows it. He needs you to let us help." Coulson said.

"You took him. You took my wife, my job, my house." Mike said and held up his arm. "You think this is killing me? All over there's people being pushed down, being robbed." He reached down into the rubble and I moved around Coulson. "When one of them tries to stand up, you gotta make an example outta him." Mike said waving around a piece of the kiosk.

"If you bring this building down on us, will that help them?" Coulson asked.

"That's a lie!" Mike yelled and turned and swung hitting what was left of the kiosk with the piece in his hand. "All you do is lie!" He was losing it. He turned back around. "You said if we worked hard, if we did right, we'd have a place. You said it was enough to be a man. But there's better than man, there's gods. And the rest of us, what are we? They're giants, we're what they step on." He walked forward slowly as he spoke and stopped a pace or two from Coulson.

"I know." Coulson said as he stepped up in front of Mike. "I've seen giants, up close. And that privilege cost me, nearly everything. But the good ones, the real deal, there not heroes because of what they have that we don't it's what they do with it. You're right Mike, it does matter who you are."

"I could, you know, be a hero." Mike said.

"I'm counting on it." Coulson said. I stepped closer.

"Please, Mike let us help you." I said.

"Shut up!" Mike snapped and swung, hitting me hard in the stomach and sending me flying. I managed, with a flick of my wrist while in midair, to hit him with enough electricity to kill a normal person. It managed to keep him from going after the others. I hit the wall and my head snapped back, again, hitting the wall hard. And the world went black.


End file.
